Happy Hearth's Warming Eve with "Liza Doolots and the Candy Factory"!

Okay, technically, your calendar does not say "Hearth's Warming Eve" yet if you are in the EST timezone. But two hours is close enough, right?
Like it's tradition for me since 2016, I have written a Hearth's Warming Eve story again this year. And like last year, it's a ponification of a movie!
This year, the story is admittedly a little light on the subject of the Hearth's Warming holidays, when I started working on this story together with DinkyUniverse, I confused "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" with another movie and so I wrongfully thought that this movie is a holiday movie.
I enjoyed DinkyUniverse's idea for this story very much, though, and was eager to write it ever since she showed the idea to me a few years ago. And when I realiized it's not really a holiday movie, I changed plans a little and decided to set this story during the Hearth's Warming season. It's not very apparent in Chapter 1 (and the original idea was to have the first three chapters published before Hearth's Warming Eve, which didn't work out, due to more work necessary than predicted), but I made clear references to the season.
And what would Hearth's Warming even be without candy? Applebloom agrees with me.

Pinkie Pie does, too. Anyway, what is the story about?
Like I already hinted above, "Liza Doolots and the Candy Factory" is a ponification of the classic movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". It is also a reimagination of the movie, it takes elements from it (but not the 2005 remake, that movie sucks, like all remakes do) and adds a more serious and dark layer over everything.
Liza Doolots, who you may (and hopefully) know as being friends with Dinky and Ruby Pinch, lives with her parents Lyra and Bon Bon in Ponyville in their small candy store. A store that is threatened to go out of business when a candy factory opens in Ponyville and slowly undermines and destroys their own business.
Unlike the original movie (least, as long as we don't count all the mad serial killer implications), "Liza Doolots and the Candy Factory" is a darker and more serious take on the movie, a tale about industrialism, how big factories and chain stores affect and ruin smaller businesses, about gentrification and the greed for money.
The story also contains songs, which I am writing myself by using the songs from the original movie as templates to create own, reinterpreted versions of the songs that fit to the plot of the story and the ponies who sing them.
Everything else, you better find out by yourself to not spoil the suspense. This is an exciting story with dark, drama and thriller elements, and also one of my most ambitious works so far, and contains quite a few surprises for fans of the original movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".
If you always wanted to see this movie with ponies and with a more serious plot (and even if you didn't, cause new experiences are always worth it), then you will find something very entertaining for you here.
This story is a multi-chapter story with more than ten chapters planned, so it will go on for quite some time beyond the Hearth's Warming holidays. I'll try to finish it before Spring comes, though.

And with that, I will dismiss all of you (and myself) for the Hearth's Warming holidays. You won't have heard from me the last time this year, there is definitely some writing going to happen between the holidays, but I'll be silent for the next few days as I enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere together with DinkyUniverse, before I go back to work on "Dreamwalker Dash" next week.
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Merry Hearth's Warming Eve, Happy Holidays and don't forget to hug the Cutie Mark Crusaders!

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Stay easy as a filly!

~ Fluttercheer